Rumour that Sheffield Council started lay-offs?

[CrazyWomble 10]

Its these directors positions that should be axed, especially John Mothersole and the obscene salary he gets. He gets a larger salary than the prime minister, how can than possibly be right, or are chief execs of the councils, the new bankers

 

That's not a fair comparison. A council CEX is responsible for the day to day running of the services provided. Prime Minister is a political position and although he undoubtably has a very responsible, stressful job he is not responsible for the day to day running of the country. This is left to the non-elected civil servants in the various government departments, the most senior of which get paid a lot more that the PM or any local authority CEX.

 

If you want to compare the PM's salary to a local equivilant it should be the leader of the council - he makes the politcal decisions, is responsible to the voters and is the 'public face' of the council and, quite rightly, gets paid a lot less that the PM.

[daftlad 11]

why shouldn't people earn more than the prime minister's?

 

it's not like the pm does anything useful

 

im on about the chief exec of the council, he gets a larger salary than the prime minister, but who has the most responsibility. also looking at the state of sheffield, would you say he is doing a good job

[daftlad 11]

No it isn't.

 

I'd agree that running a Council and running a PLC is in some ways different. However, there are factors that the Council CEX has to deal with that the PLC doesn't ie politicians and public accountability. There are of course a lot of similarities, both would be in charge of large organisations / budgets and would deal with similar issues in overseeing them.

 

The CEO of a PLC of similar size would get a massively bigger remuneration package than a Council CEX anyway.

 

No, you don't tend to get much cross-over at senior officer level between PLC's and Councils. They tend to attract different types of people with different motivations. That does not imply that the public servant should not receive adequate pay for the task they are carrying out. Being the CEX of a large Council is a very difficult job and the job basically owns you 24/7. These people are extremely committed and in my opinion earn every penny.

 

 

I think if we had a poll on here saying how much Mothersole earns and do we think he is worth it, the majority would be in the no camp

[daftlad 11]

That's not a fair comparison. A council CEX is responsible for the day to day running of the services provided. Prime Minister is a political position and although he undoubtably has a very responsible, stressful job he is not responsible for the day to day running of the country. This is left to the non-elected civil servants in the various government departments, the most senior of which get paid a lot more that the PM or any local authority CEX.

 

If you want to compare the PM's salary to a local equivilant it should be the leader of the council - he makes the politcal decisions, is responsible to the voters and is the 'public face' of the council and, quite rightly, gets paid a lot less that the PM.

 

so does the council chief exec, there is a director of planning and directors of other council departments, just like there is with a prime minister

[CrazyWomble 10]

so does the council chief exec, there is a director of planning and directors of other council departments, just like there is with a prime minister

 

Yes, but the PM's job is to make political decisions. Its the civil servants' job to implement these decisions. In councils, it is the leader's job to make the political decisions and the CEX's (and his staff) job to implement them. Comparing a political position with an executive one is not a fair comparison.

[Sausage Dog 10]

This is patent nonsense. You simply cannot compare a private company with a T/O of £1.5 billion with a council with a budget of £1.5 billion because the private company have to seek out their customers and the council don't. They have a captive market the like of which any private company would die for. And if these council CEO's really could compete with the CEO's of private companies in running an organisation they wouldn't be working for the council.

 

I wouldn't defend the salaries that senior public sector people get, but out of interest, how many CEOs of private sector companies are responsible for the following (I could make this list a lot longer):

 

the care of vulnerable old people

the care of adults with mental health problems

children in care

education standards

public amenities - libraries, parks, etc,

maintenance of public highways

health and safety of road users and pedestrians

payment of beneefits

collection of income

running elections

[daftlad 11]

I wouldn't defend the salaries that senior public sector people get, but out of interest, how many CEOs of private sector companies are responsible for the following (I could make this list a lot longer):

 

the care of vulnerable old people

the care of adults with mental health problems

children in care

education standards

public amenities - libraries, parks, etc,

maintenance of public highways

health and safety of road users and pedestrians

payment of beneefits

collection of income

running elections

 

the difference is though, with the CEO in the private company, his wages dont come out of our taxes and no public service employee is worth that in wages

[CrazyWomble 10]

the difference is though, with the CEO in the private company, his wages dont come out of our taxes and no public service employee is worth that in wages

 

Why not? Shouldn't the people who provide the most essential services in society be rewarded appropriately? Don't you want the best qualified people in charge of protecting vulnerable people, educating our children and keeping our streets safe and clean?

 

I'm sure you will answer by saying that the current CEX has failed at all these aims (which incidently I do not agree with) but cutting public service pay, even for the top earners, is not going to improve services.

[Tradescanthia 10]

what would be the consequences for someone writing about their boss on a internet forum and calling them liars ?

 

Nothing, as long as it's true !!

[daftlad 11]

Why not? Shouldn't the people who provide the most essential services in society be rewarded appropriately? Don't you want the best qualified people in charge of protecting vulnerable people, educating our children and keeping our streets safe and clean?

 

I'm sure you will answer by saying that the current CEX has failed at all these aims (which incidently I do not agree with) but cutting public service pay, even for the top earners, is not going to improve services.

 

wll he is doing a poor job isnt he, look at the the state of the roads for a start and the way the town centre is being made so its getting more difficult to use by car, and dont get me started on the schools or looking after the disabled because we have been let down on both counts

[Sausage Dog 10]

the difference is though, with the CEO in the private company, his wages dont come out of our taxes and no public service employee is worth that in wages

 

As I said I'm not defending what some public service employees get paid, but you've not offered up an example of a private sector CEO who has the same range of responsibilities as a local government chief executive.

 

In addition, not many private sector CEOs come under the same amount of public scrutiny, unless the company really screws up, such as in the BP/Gulf of Mexico situation.

 

By the way, in one way or another, we pay the salaries of private sector CEOs. You might have choice over whether to shop at Tescos, Asda, Morrisons, etc, but you have no say in how much of you cash finds its way into thier CEO's pocket.

[Darth Vader 10]

Darth Vader - The unions had a meeting with the chief exec (can't remember which one) to discuss redundancies - they asked the Chief exec to take a 5% pay cut as requested by the communities minister (see link below). Mothersole declined to do so - instead wanting to make another already low paid council employee join the dole queue. What a kind man he is.

 

 

http://sheffieldpolitics.com/2011/01/04/council-chief-execs-resist-calls-for-pay-cut/

 

Thanks for the response and link.

 

Well, after reading that, what Pickles should have done, is what the council did to it's workers - force them to sign to do the same job for lower pay, or tell they they'll be made redundant, basically!